MNA Daily NewsScan, August 2, 2012: Why a Robin Hood Tax; ICU Telemedicine

LABOR NEWS

Why Nurses Are Fighting for the Robin Hood Tax     MNA Executive Director writes about a tax for the people, not on the people.

HEALTH CARE

Unclear if ICU Telemedicine Can Save Hospitals Money   Remote monitoring of intensive care patients – a strategy to maximize scarce  medical expertise – can cost hospitals anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per bed  in the first year of operation, according to a new study.  Whether this investment pays off in the long run by improving ICU patients’  care and saving money, “we don’t know,” said Dr. Gaurav Kumar.

Dayton:  State Aims to Build a Better Medicare         Called Reform 2020, it’s a request for the feds to grant Minnesota the requisite authority to pursue an ambitious redesign of Medicaid, the $8 billion-a-year, state-federal health care program also called Medical Assistance.